Connected devices are disrupting numerous industries, with the power utility sector being no exception. Power utility companies currently face four primary challenges stemming from the proliferation of IoT:
-
Vendors are increasingly connecting machines, controllers, HMIs, and SCADA systems to the cloud, promising enhanced analytics and insights for predictive and preventative maintenance. However, stringent quarantine policies governing critical assets prevent power companies from leveraging these new IoT features offered by machine and controller vendors.
-
As the cost of solar and wind microgrids continues to decline, utility companies anticipate a drop in revenue from traditional power generation. To offset this, they must aggressively pursue new revenue streams, such as Energy Management as a Service, Energy Storage as a Service, and grid services for EV charging and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading among homes, microgrids, and batteries. These transactions require smart metering, smart grids, and secure exchanges facilitated by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) like IOTA. Additionally, utilities are exploring the provision of smart city services to municipal authorities.
-
For critical infrastructure such as dams, ICOLD (International Committee of Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) to detect impending risks of collapse in dams, rock formations, or tunnels. This allows for the early evacuation of people in affected areas.
-
Another emerging revenue area is EV charging in parking facilities, raising the question of how IoT can facilitate smart charging and parking solutions.
Over the past three years, IoT engineering has undergone significant transformations, largely driven by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These tech giants have invested billions to develop IoT platforms that are easier to manage and secure. IoT edge computing has gained substantial momentum as the primary method for practical IoT implementation, while 5G promises to further revolutionize the IoT business landscape. This has led to unprecedented funding in IoT research. Consequently, it is essential for practicing engineers to understand the IoT platforms developed for major players like AWS, Google, and especially Microsoft.
However, none of these platforms offer a fully comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. Deploying smart meters to millions of homes requires additional technologies for securing the meters, radio networks, IoT management systems, and other secure services. Strategy, pricing, and security in any IoT deployment must be optimized and acceptable. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this knowledge, it is challenging for any single company to assemble a team capable of meeting all requirements.
This course makes a concerted effort to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts on the challenges, risks, and practical approaches to deploying IoT for next-generation power utility businesses.
Furthermore, as IoT deployments scale, managing services for thousands of sensors and connections has emerged as a distinct engineering research subject. This area, formerly known as managed IoT services, is experiencing rapid growth because the challenges of scalable IoT management are greater than the implementation itself. This includes securing over-the-top firmware/software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, auto-diagnosing connection issues, identifying root causes of API failures, and tracking the health of hardware and services in distributed systems.
Course Objectives
The main objective of this course is to introduce emerging technological options, platforms, and case studies of IoT implementation in power utility companies, focusing on Smart Metering, Smart Cars, SHM (Structural Health Monitoring), Power Quality Diagnosis, and Smart Contracts. It provides a basic introduction to all IoT elements, including mechanical and electronics/sensor platforms, wireless and wireline protocols, mobile-to-electronics integration, mobile-to-enterprise integration, data analytics, and control plane applications.
-
IoT Technology Stacks: Devices, Gateways, Edge, Edge Cloud, Public Cloud, IoT databases, Web & Mobile Applications for IoT, Centralized vs. Decentralized IoT
-
IoT Ecosystem for Business: Third-party device management and risk management of the entire IoT ecosystem
-
M2M Wireless Protocols for IoT: WiFi, SigFox, LoRa, LPWAN, Zigbee/Z-Wave, Bluetooth, ANT+ - Guidelines on when and where to use each
-
Fundamentals of IoT Gateways: Risks, Management, and Ecosystem
-
Mobile/Desktop/Web Apps for registration, data acquisition, and control - Overview of available M2M data acquisition platforms for IoT (AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Google IoT)
-
Security Issues and Solutions for IoT: Review of security across all technology stacks
-
Enterprise IoT Platforms: Microsoft Azure IoT Suites, AWS IoT, Google IoT, Siemens MindSphere
-
Smart Metering Standards: Open Smart Grid Protocols (OSGP), ANSI C2.18 Protocols, NIST Standard for HAN (Home Area Network), HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Smart Meter Security Standard (IEC 62056)
-
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT): Blockchain, HyperLedger, and DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) for smart contracts, P2P transactions, and smart car charging
-
IoT for Critical Infrastructure: Dams, Transformers, Substations, High-Tension Wires
Read more...